When the DFB announced their squad on Thursday lunchtime for the upcoming Nations League internationals against Serbia (13 November) and the Netherlands (16 November), Niclas Füllkrug had reason to smile. The Werder Bremen striker had been written off after his move to West Ham United in summer 2024 and the lengthy goal drought that followed. Now he is proof of how quickly fortunes can change with the national team.
Less than six months ago, a return to the DFB team looked a long way off for Füllkrug, and he missed the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico as a result. Today, just a few months later, he is the man of the moment and one of the most in-form players with a German passport. Since returning to Bremen, the 33-year-old has scored twelve goals in ten appearances across all competitions. He has scored at least once in each of his last eight games, including twice against Dortmund, Paderborn and Mainz.
For Jürgen Klopp, it had therefore been "a pleasure", the national team coach said at the press conference, "to make the decision" and tell the veteran he could return to the national team after a long period of hardship. Füllkrug has "an incredible influence on Bremen's play, and not just through his goals", Klopp stressed. "Sometimes form outweighs everything else."
Getty ImagesHow is Nick Woltemade getting on at Juventus Turin?
By "everything else", Klopp may have meant Nick Woltemade, among others. The striker at Italian record champions Juventus Turin is still falling short of high expectations, the opposite of the in-form Füllkrug.
Yet the numbers tell a more encouraging story for the 24-year-old than his first omission since his DFB debut in June 2025 might suggest. Since moving to the Old Lady, Woltemade has played more or less regularly and shown his qualities time and again, particularly in the Europa League. He has neither scored nor directly contributed to a goal in eight Serie A appearances, but has three goals (two penalties) and three assists in four European matches.
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He also made a case for himself on Thursday evening, playing well in the 2-1 away win in Alkmaar and setting up Randal Kolo Muani's goal to make it 2-0. Woltemade has been directly involved in at least one goal in every European match he has played for the Bianconeri.
Woltemade's problem, and probably one reason he has not been called up to the DFB squad, is not that nothing is working for him on the pitch in a Juve shirt. The numbers disprove that. The bigger problem is the decision the former Bundesliga striker made last summer: to join the Turin club in the first place.
Getty ImagesWhy did Nick Woltemade move to Juve?
Without question, establishing himself and getting regular playing time at parent club Newcastle United would not have been easy. Newcastle reportedly paid VfB Stuttgart €75 million in 2025, but under Eddie Howe, who resigned in the summer, Woltemade was often little more than a substitute brought on for the final few minutes. He rarely managed to distinguish himself.
But Howe has since gone. Former RB Leipzig youth coach Matthias Jaissle took the reins at the Magpies and immediately promised Woltemade a fresh start, even if his preferred high-pressing style might initially have left the striker waiting for his chance. Woltemade evidently did not want to risk another season playing second fiddle and fled to Italy.
Getty ImagesCan Nick Woltemade get back into the DFB team?
According to Klopp, it was "fundamentally a very clever move": after an extremely bleak spell at Newcastle, Juventus could offer the 24-year-old a completely new environment. A "different league, better weather" and, in Luciano Spalletti, a coach whose approach might suit Woltemade better could help him rediscover his old form. Italy's once-dominant champions have, however, long ceased to provide a nurturing environment for careers at a crossroads and are sinking ever further into sporting irrelevance. That is "of course not down to Nick. Not in the slightest", Klopp stressed.
Juventus have been grappling with so many problems of their own for years that it is almost impossible for a player to perform at the top level week after week and put himself in the shop window for the national team. A wildly assembled squad and massive financial problems have contributed to a steady sporting decline. The Turin club recently announced a €66 million loss for the 2025/26 financial year. Other clubs such as Inter, Milan and Napoli have long contested the Serie A title among themselves, while Juventus have failed to qualify for the Champions League twice in the past four years.
On top of that, the Italian press is generally extremely critical, something Woltemade has experienced more than once. Major newspapers such as Gazzetta dello Sport and Tuttosport continually tear the German's performances apart. At times, their assessments resemble a witch-hunt. Take the 2-0 defeat against Genoa a week and a half ago: Woltemade came on for Federico Gatti at half-time, with the score at 2-0, and was subsequently held up as virtually the main culprit for the defeat. That was despite his recent election as Juventus' player of the month.
At least Klopp seems aware of the particular situation. "To be honest, Nick is going through a rather good spell at Juve right now. A lot is coming back; he has simply not had an easy time since the move," the national team coach explained. Woltemade was "on the right track. He is lacking a little in outright goal threat." Füllkrug, meanwhile, is showing precisely that goal threat, which is why Klopp concluded: "It was a relatively easy decision." In favour of Füllkrug. Against Woltemade.